Black-holes have a bad rep, but it’s deserved! They devour anything that comes too close and they aren’t satisified with merely tearing debris into quarks and blasting out burps of gamma radiation, they digest the remains in a bottomless pit. One blackhole, not too far away using the comsological standard, was caught doing exactly that: [Read more…]
Cold hearted orb that rules the night, removes the colours from our sight; red is gray and yellow white, but we decide which is right — Moody Blues
Weekend skies will feature the biggest full moon of the year. It’ll be hanging up there, beautiful and gorgeous, officially starting this Saturday evening: [Read more…]
There’s been little in the way of details from the announcement last week of a new company, Planetary Resources, AKA the asteroid miners. There will be a news conference or some type of event this Tuesday in Seattle where the fledgling firm will unveil some of its plans: [Read more…]
Artist's conception of a Jupiter-size rogue planet with the edge on disk of a spiral galaxy in the background. Image via the Wiki
I’ve posted on rogue planets and nomads and even a few wandering worlds that reach incredible speeds. A new study confirms what common sense would tell us: some of these restless worlds end up in alien solar systems: [Read more…]
The Martian countryside in the Utopian Plain as seen by Viking. New analysis of the Viking data suggests microbes may be living just beneath the surface. Image 1976 NASA/JPL
Because of recently announced budget targets and a potentially exciting new look at old data, NASA is looking for low cost ways to continue exploring Mars and other parts of the solar system. It’s a shame for our nation and species they have to think this way, but that’s the real world in all its raw glory: [Read more…]
The details are murky and, considering the source, unlikely to become much clearer. But word is the much vaunted North Korean launch of a Unha-3 rocket from a newly completed Tangachai-ri space center, believed to consist of three stages with at least one heavy liquid fuel stage, failed just after liftoff for reasons unknown. [Read more…]
SpaceX Dragon spacecraft shown in a hypothetial dock with the ISS. The next test of this system is scheduled for 30 April
That was my opening line at a small talk over the weekend, my warmer upper, it’s not exactly a spine tingler, but it’s the truth. The only manned ground to orbit launch capacity on earth exist in Rsocosmos, the dregs of the Russian manned program. Because of management missteps, congressional malfeasance, a world-wide recession and austerity programs in the few space faring countries left standing, we as a species, ladies and gentlemen, are about one single launch/operational/reentry disaster away from having no manned capability at all, while a luxury free-fall hotel and science station weighing in at almost a million pounds whizzes around empty of science and man until it burns into a briefly spectacular, $100 billion high-altitude fireworks show. Right now much of our hope hinges on this event: [Read more…]
An exosolar guide of planets by size vs density and theoretical composition.
What with Pluto being demoted and exosolar astronomy going gang busters, a solar system with more planets than our own was bound to turn up sooner or later. New data from a near twin of our sun 130 light-years away has come sooner: [Read more…]
Calenders, and their close mechanical relative the clock, developed in large part to keep track of important ceremonial dates like today. But I didn’t know until a few minutes ago the connection between the full moon and easter Sunday: [Read more…]
According to Russian media, Roscosmos head Vladimir Popovkin was hospitalized for exhaustion. At the same time he checked in with a bandaged head, in itself an unusual symptom for over work, Aleksander Paramonov, Deputy Head of Star City was fingered as possibly being involved in incident that led to the hospital visit. No one’s talking on the record, but word is Popovkin got smacked in the head by a bottle during a drunken brawl over his choice for Roscosmos spokesperson, the nubile 27 year-old former model, uh-huh, shown next to him above. [Read more…]